Yemen Protests Flare as Houthi Rebels Take Control

Tens of thousand of Yemeni protesters took to the streets Friday in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, in support of the Shiite rebels who seized the capital city just last year. The protesters denounced alleged claims of “foreign conspiracies” – referencing a conglomerate of international backers in support of Yemen’s embattled leader, who avoided house arrest by the insurgents in early February.

As this has been going on, rallies against the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, have taken place in many other regions across Yemen, including the cities of Hodida, Taiz, Dhamar, and Bayda. The opposing protests have undermined the depth and breadth of Yemen’s crisis that has held the country after the Houthi rebels captured Sanaa late last year and declared there control over the country in January. The Middle East has been on watch as the nation has been overrun by Islamic extremists.

President Abed Robbo Mansour Hadi, who was able to escape in city of Sanaa at the grasp of the rebels, has established temporary residency in Aden, a city in southern Yemen.